Your thoughts on the current status of the X-books

[gonnagiveittoya]

This year's Gala will inevitably break and shake many a reader.

God I hope so. Especially since the last two big shocking revelations at the galas were obvious coming a mile away. Maybe now they finally, finally get around to the Reed stuff

[JB]

During his recent interview Duggan kinda hinted at the Reed stuff coming back around. Then just a few days ago it was announced that Chip Zdarsky, who wrote the X-Men/FF mini, would be ending his Daredevil run this summer. Hmmmm...

[sunofdarkchild]

This is the era of unrealized potential. It's better than a lot of the dreck of the 2010s, but it could have brought the X-Men to heights not seen in over 30 years and has failed to come close to living up to that potential.

[Agent Grayson]

What are you reading/not reading?

I'm reading Immortal X-Men, X-Men and X-Men Red (and currently Immoral X-Men and Storm & the Brotherhood of Mutants). I loosely follow most of the other books through recaps here, but mostly I have no interest in picking up any other X-titles. I previously gave both Spurrier and Howard chances to win me over and neither did - I dislike their takes on Nightcrawler and Captain Britain, respectively.

Are you looking forward to what Fall of X may bring and the preceding Before the Fall mini era?

Yes. The momentum of the current era feels sluggish at a point where it should feel like it's firing on all cylinders, so Fall of X could be a light at the end of the tunnel in terms of giving the line a refresh.

What are you hoping for?

This is an unpopular opinion on this board, but I want Krakoa to end. It really had promise at the start but to me, any potential has been drowned by fundamental flaws, ongoing mischaracterisations, an over-saturation of Sinister, meandering plots, and poor or non-existent character arcs. I'm ready for stories with tighter focuses that utilise characters well and have plots that serve to entertain and enhance, rather than just producing the next big shock.

If Krakoa does stick around, it needs to be radically overhauled and the writers need to start challenging the concept. If things stay broadly as they are, I doubt I'll be reading much longer.

[JB]

I hope so. Because my current summation of the X-books and my feelings on them right now is “meh.”

I’m just bored honestly. X-men Red is by far the best book of the line IMO, but this whole detour into Sins of Sinister alt future is not all that interesting and I’m ready for it to be over already… and it’s barely just begun. So, not a great sign there. Plus with Ewing in a recent interview saying there’s no immediate plans for Cable but that he might pop back in down the line, well, that’s a dealbreaker for me. I’m just not all the hyped about XMR anymore. Sorry.

As for the rest of the line? It’s… fine. I guess. I’m reading Immortal and Duggan’s X-men. And both are just “okay.” I just dropped X-Force as it sucks. Badly. And without Logan on the team I care a lot less. Sabretooth is pretty solid, and Wolverine is oddly now the comic I most look forward to monthly. The whole Weapons of X and Beast Agenda stuff is wacky, but entertaining. Plus I’m a Logan fan. So I guess Sabretooth and Wolverine are what’s keeping me onboard the X-train for now.

But I find myself hoping the Gala and then Fall of X involves some major shakeups and gives us more interesting team lineups, new creative teams and titles. Fingers crossed for some exciting news tonight at the big 60th Anniversary event…

Thanks for sharing! I'm really hoping they have something in store for Cable and my vote is for that Cable: Agent of SWORD book that was kinda maybe sorta hinted at. Hopefully Fall of X brings the freshness to keep you on the X-train.

Agent Grayson, if Krakoa ended what would you like to see the mutants doing? Would it be back to the mansion setting or something different than both settings?

[Devaishwarya]

It's clearly in a bit of a holding pattern right now...just waiting for the endgame of FoX to start. So nothing really exciting overall.

I'm only reading X-Men, SatB/XMR, SatE, SW. I have nothing (good) to say about the other books.

Definitely looking forward to FoX albeit with great anxiety and trepidation from not knowing what to expect. (More of the same escalating barrage of conflict and misery just exponentially greater...I'm guessing?) I do wish we were already at the early stage of FoX instead of wading through the mud and sludge of pointlessness that is SoS.

Hoping for a more stable Krakoa: Mutant Nation post Fall. With a more clear direction as an established society going forward. They fought against impossible odds but are still standing, still hopeful and with the world/humanity giving them more respect. I would hope the writers give Krakoa and Arakko a solid chance to breathe. And grow. And be what the mutants want it to be...for a while. Give them something more than just genocide conflict to deal with. And no more fucking back-to-back apocalyptic events that derail what would have been otherwise really good storytelling (I know that's asking way too much).

[Exodus]

I still enjoy it a lot. But I do have crossover event fatigue like never before.

It took me THREE MONTHS to read that mess that was AXE. I was really excited about it and was so stupid to buy ALL comics of this event. lol Sorry, it had gorgeous character moments (that Jean Grey one-shot!!) but this over-all event and concept behind the event were horrible and so absolutely boring. Great writing for a bad crossover idea...I think having Gillen invest more time in an ongoing series would have been so much more enjoyable than this dull cliché event. It also felt like a detour. I want to have crossovers about Krakoa and how the idea of a new mutant nation is thought out further. I want to see Krakoa—and also Arrakko—grow and change into Forge's vision. I think I need more positive new developments for the mutants and less doom-and-gloom scenarios...Those are outdated and boring. I think Hickman was right, what the X-Men comic line needs and what brings me joy as a reader.

I'm also disappointed in Sinister's big new arc. There are some ideas but it is boring to me to see the Council as bad cliché villains without any stakes for their development. It would have been so much more enjoyable to really see them getting slowly corrupted by their own behavior and power. There are no shades. Only evil supervillains. That also makes for a boring read.

[PolarIceFire]

Pressed for time, so am holding on my own thoughts for now.

This year's Gala will inevitably break and shake many a reader.

By then it might be too late, for as has been correctly pointed out...

... the boards seem to be steadily less active...

many may've already taken the break.

[PolarIceFire]

This is the era of unrealized potential. It's better than a lot of the dreck of the 2010s, but it could have brought the X-Men to heights not seen in over 30 years and has failed to come close to living up to that potential.

Will echo this, though, for starters.

[ChronoRogue]

I think this era is really missing a spark. It feels a bit emotionless to me and not very cohesive.

Of the line, I think Red is probably doing best. Ewing is building up a concept ignored by other writers (Mars), while giving some much needed development for characters that have been underutilized this past era (Storm, Sunspot). I don't think it's a perfect book, because it feels like at times Ewing needs to slow down and focus to really convey the emotions he wants us to feel, but otherwise he is doing the best out of the line IMO.

Immortal X-Men, I don't love the shifting focus per issue to issue. It feels a bit inorganic and makes it harder to follow an overall plot-line. There has been some standout issues here and there, especially for Exodus and Destiny, but I kinda feel like a more traditional format would have helped with the story-telling better.

X-Men has much of the same issues I've been saying since the beginning of Duggan's run and back from Marauders, it lacks of emotional depth outside of 1-2 characters and he's one of the weaker writers in being able to balance teams. His action is great, but he contributes to the line overall still lacking an emotional punch. Also not loving that he inserted Vault!Laura into the story when he still needs to explore most of his cast.

Legion of X I tried to follow, but something about that book is not working for me. I think it's Nightcrawler's characterization, Kurt needed a better balance between how serious depressed he has been and with the light-hearted and positive Kurt I'm more familiar with.

X-Force... I think everyone is well aware of the problems with that book.

the mini's I won't comment on too much because they have just started, but so far they haven't really done much to shift the tone of the line.

But yea, the status quo for me is missing a lot of heart for me. The groups all feel very random outside of Immortal and that book is about political intrigue n back-stabbing. The family feeling of the X-Men is gone, the X-Men feel like a group of strangers and more like the Avengers than ever (even compared to Utopia). Ironically it's a Captain Marvel book that has best brought this feeling back best. Sinister and the QCs presence looms in the background in a lot books and it feels overwhelming but not in a menacing way, more like you can't escape them way.

I'm really hopeful that this shake-up injects some fresh air into the line and brings back some positive emotions back into the franchise, because for me personally I have not been very engaged this era.

[davetvs]

What are you reading/not reading?
Reading: X-Men Red, Immortal X-Men, X-Men, Sabretooth, Bishop: War College, X-23: Regenesis, Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain

Not Reading: Everything else. Solo books don't typically interest me, so Wolverine is out. X-Force is awful, and Spurrier's work is hard to follow/laden with daddy issues that make me uncomfortable. New Mutants started out strong with Hickman but has been on a steady decline since.

Are you looking forward to what Fall of X may bring and the preceding Before the Fall mini era?
It depends on what the Fall actually entails. I've been loving the new status quo of the Krakoan era, it's an interesting new direction for the franchise and absolutely reinvigorated it after years of aimless-to-downright-awful storytelling. I don't want to go back to the mansion.

What are you hoping for?
More Monet. More Krakoan worldbuilding. More diverse writing and editorial teams.

[Devaishwarya]

Will echo this, though, for starters.

Same.

They left an era of decimation and pain and suffering. Started anew and fresh, big and bold. Then...within 24 hrs went right back to decimation and pain and suffering with a lethal dose of internal corruption thrown in for good measure. I don't know if that was the initial intent but it seemed that they never really gave Krakoa an opportunity to actually become a stable society before tearing it all down and apart. As much as I love the Arakkii now...that whole lengthy XoSwords time frame could have been put to much better use. It wasted and derailed a lot of time and potential so early in the new era.

[danielsan52]

I'm not reading SoS. Sticking with X-Men and Sabretooth & The Exiles rn

[Jackraow21]

Thanks for sharing! I'm really hoping they have something in store for Cable and my vote is for that Cable: Agent of SWORD book that was kinda maybe sorta hinted at. Hopefully Fall of X brings the freshness to keep you on the X-train.

Fingers crossed. But at least I’ve got Logan still out there, and this crossover with Ghost Rider which sees him on the run for some reason.

[Rift]

What are you reading/not reading?
I'm regularly reading Red, Immortal, and Sabretooth and the Exiles. I used to read Marauders, but I dropped it after the Threshold arc ended. Everything else is on a "read if it sounds good/important" basis. But I've given everything a shot at least.

Are you looking forward to what Fall of X may bring and the preceding Before the Fall mini era?
As long as Krakoa still stands, I'm fine. Like I'm sure it will stay around for a little while longer, but I don't want all the fun and uniqueness to get stamped down to make something more in line with the old status quo. No more extinction events, no Schism 2.0, no dismantling of the Resurrection Protocols.

I'm hyped for the Apocalypse fam, though.

What are you hoping for?
Hellion x Wind Dancer wedding. Let them be happy. Or let them be happy, until Laura shows up to claim her man. I am shipping trash and I hunger for my garbage.

Speaking of Academy X, the kids deserve a bigger role. They were let down by the adults, and they'd probably have something to say if those same adults started letting them down again. Krakoa is the only home for many of them, and a bastion of peace after years of suffering. They should have a vested interest in protecting it, or looking at the leadership with heavy skepticism.

I want more consistency with the line, acknowledging history and running with past ideas. Like yeah, we all love seeing Tommy make a cameo. But I'm sick of characters' past stories or connections being ignored. I get that they want comics to be accessible to newcomers, but I don't like it when characters are just interchangeable playthings. Basically, do what Zeb Wells, Leah Williams, Steve Orlando and Al Ewing did. Orlando in particular, he set up Dirtnap and utilized Cassandra Nova's major stories.

Other than that, more Krakoa world-building. We need more culture, more recognizable locations, more lore. If Spurrier is leaving, maybe we can get an overhaul of the Spark, to make it less lame. Or have a Phoenix religion pop up. Bring back Leah Williams and have her run that Krakoan pantheon idea. Try to make Krakoa feel at least half as interesting and unique as Arakko.

Speaking of Williams and lore-building, let's flesh out the Waiting Room. As it stands right now, it's just this awkward plot device stories have to write around. Sins of Sinister showed us a version transformed into Mutant Hell, which is a great idea. Instead of this nebulous, uh, waiting room, I'd love to see it more as a proper afterlife location. It shouldn't be Mutant Heaven or anything, but exploring it as a location would make it feel more interesting.

Slott de-mutating Franklin was a dumb retcon. It didn't do anything for Krakoa, it didn't do anything for Franklin, it made the awful X-Men/FF mini pointless, and it left a lot of plot holes and questions in its wake. I know Franklin is MIA ATM, but if Reed's going to come back, have one of the characters go, "lol I lied about Franklin not being a mutant." I don't care, something basic and lazy is good enough for me.

Writers I want to see: Leah Williams, Vita Ayala, Chris Hastings, Zeb Wells, maybe Eve Ewing and Gene Luen Yang.

Kill Legion, Quire and Glob Herman.

Most of these weren't foreshadowed for FoX, but come on. Gimme.